work from home Archives - Stuff Parents Need

What to Do When Traditional Careers Don’t Fit Your Life Anymore

August 7, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt Leave a Comment

Today I’m going to share a little bit about my professional journey since becoming a mother. It is only my experience, and isn’t an attempt to speak for all mothers. We all feel differently!

Before I had my first child, I enjoyed a career in higher education. It was extremely rewarding to work so closely with college students and help them as they discerned their vocational goals. It was very demanding, but I had the time to give to them.

And then Darah was born. I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 11 weeks, and then she went to a day care center just across the street from where I worked. I visited her every day at lunch. And I cried on many of those walks to and from my office.

I was really and truly shocked at just how miserable I was.

A series of unfortunate events transpired over the first year of Darah’s life (random blood clot and hospital stay for my husband, interstate wreck for me and Darah, and the loss of a 4 day work week). We decided enough was enough and seized the opportunity for a fresh start in another city. I was going to get to stay at home full-time with my daughter and give her the time and attention she needed.

And after a while, I was really and truly shocked at just how miserable I was.

I was actually happier than when I was working full-time outside of the home, but I was still left feeling a bit empty, and as though certain parts of my brain were no longer being exercised. I also would look at my framed bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and feel pangs of guilt. We spent a small fortune on my brain, and continued to make monthly payments on that investment. I really didn’t like that I wasn’t making any financial contributions to the family. I think many stay-at-home moms struggle with this issue. The work of raising children is perhaps the most crucial work in the entire world, and yet, the pay is TERRIBLE (aside from those sweet, slobbery kisses, of course).

This is when I decided to get more serious with my blog work, and to start learning all I could about social media marketing so that I could turn a fun hobby into a source of income. While my blog isn’t a big income generator at this point, I am learning new things every day, I am keeping my skill set sharpened and adding new tools to it, and I’m having a really great time. When I do earn money with the blog, it feels SO GOOD! I love being able to help provide for my family while still being able to stay at home with my kids. It definitely takes a lot of discipline and a willingness to work at odd hours (I get up between 4 and 5 am most days to start work), but it is worth it!

I have also recently realized that I’m not so sure that I will ever go back to a traditional work environment. If I’m not able to grow my blog to the point where it can replace a traditional full-time income, I may have to get back in the rat race. But I feel very motivated to keep honing my skills and learning how to work smarter from home. My kids will both be in school all day long in just a few short years, but that doesn’t mean that my work is done as a parent, so I will likely still feel the tug to be at home for quite a few more years.

If you are like me and looking for ways to step out of the 9-5 grind, but also need and/or want to provide financially for your family, opportunities to work full-time or part-time from home are growing! I really love the website working mums, which is a premiere resource for our sisters across the pond. It has a really comprehensive list of LEGITIMATE (that’s the key!) flexible work opportunities.

Even though this site doesn’t list opportunities to work from home in the states, it does contain some sections that you should peruse if you are seeking a flexible work opportunity. Be sure to read their career advice posts as well as their career toolkit, which can help you put your best foot forward and help you think about all your options as you seek to more seamlessly blend family life with career aspirations. Definitely check them out.

I’d also really love to hear if any of my readers are currently pursuing opportunities that provide more flexibility in your schedules. What kind of work are you doing?

This post brought to you by our friends at http://www.workingmums.co.uk.

Working Moms: Meet WorkingMums!

June 19, 2011 By Tiffany Merritt Leave a Comment

One of the things I love about the internet is that it can connect you to most any place in the world. While I spend most of my time on websites geared toward Americans, it can be a really fun adventure to check out some resources where I’m not necessarily the primary customer or client.

I’ve just spent a bit of time this morning perusing a website called Workingmums, and I found it to be really fascinating! It is an online community for moms (or “mums” as they are called in England) looking to work from home. I know that so many of my readers are seeking out such opportunities here in the states (including me!). I really liked looking through their list of opportunities. It was nicely organized, and the vast majority of their job postings looked VERY legitimate, which is a big difference I noticed between this site and most work at home sites in the United States. I think we have a lot more “too good to be true” opportunities to wade through.

I wanted to share this site with you because I think that there are two areas that can be quite useful to those of us in America. First, be sure to check out their franchise opportunities section. Notice the quick links section over to the right. There you will find some great information about how starting a franchise actually works, and what you need to think about when deciding if you’d like to be the person to open the chain establishment that you wish was in your town.

Workingmums also has a career toolkit section that offers several articles about how to get yourself ready to apply for work. Anyone out there who is trying to snag a position could benefit from reviewing some of their helpful tips!

Hop on over and give Workingmums a look. It’s not only fascinating, but also really useful!

This post is in association with Workingmums.co.uk. As always, all opinions expressed here are strictly my own

Filed Under: Parenting Tips Tagged With: flexible jobs, how to work from home, jobs at home, jobs for mothers, jobs from home, moms work, work at home, work at home moms, work at home mums, work from home, work from home ideas, work from home mums, work from home opportunities, working from home, working moms, working mums

A Legit Work-At-Home Opportunity Worth Exploring: U.S. Monitor

April 15, 2011 By virtual 9 Comments

I told you much earlier this year that one of my goals for the year is to learn how to earn more money online. Several of you commented that you wanted to hear about my progress. First, I wanted to tell you that my very favorite resource for learning about online earning opportunities is through Anna’s blog, Real Ways to Earn Money Online. She really does her homework about different opportunities and gives sound advice about which opportunities are and aren’t worth pursuing. She’s a must read for anyone looking to bring in a little extra income on the side.

Today I’m really excited to tell you about one particular opportunity that I first learned about through Anna’s blog called U.S. Monitor. This is a service designed to help companies who use direct mail determine how efficient their mailings are. They have agents in many, many different zip codes, all over the country, who agree to accept specially coded mail and then enter some basic information about that mail into the U.S. Monitor system. Agents are paid a flat fee of $10 each month, and then .25 for each piece of mail that they receive and register.

After reading that this company has been around since 1973, I felt confident enough to sign up for it and give it a try. Unfortunately, Chattanooga already has the agents it needs, although I’m on the wait list should one decide to stop doing the work. But, get this, the PRESIDENT of the company asked to talk with me over the phone about the work they do, even though he couldn’t offer me a position as an agent at the moment.

Wowzers! Have you ever heard of such?! He reached out to me because I had posted a comment on Anna’s original U.S. Monitor Post. During my conversation with Paul (who, by the way, is a super nice guy), I learned that they are actively trying to find more agents in many different parts of the country. Since I was interested in pursuing this as a way to earn a little bit of money each month, I thought many of you might also be interested in checking it out. They may even have an opening in your area and you could get hired!

I also learned that this company is innovating as the times are changing. Direct mail isn’t exactly the best way to reach customers, anymore, and as companies are turning to email and even social media, U.S. Monitor wants to be there to help them measure their efficiency and effectiveness. I think that is going to mean a lot more opportunities for agents, and I for one am excited to be on their list of people interested in helping as the opportunities are created!

So what do you need to do to learn more? It’s simple, really. First, go to the U.S. Monitor website and fill out their agent form. This does not commit you to taking on a job if one is available in your area, so don’t stress! They will be in contact with you if there is an opening for you. If there isn’t an opening, you will stay on their waiting list of interested individuals. If you could please mention that Tiffany referred you when asked, I would appreciate it!

What happens if you get hired? It sounds as though you should expect to receive anywhere between 10-40 pieces of mail each day, and you will be expected to log into the system to report about each piece of mail the day it comes in. Additionally, you are asked to hold on to the mail for up to one month before disposing of it or returning it to U.S. Monitor on postage-paid envelopes, so you will need a storage area for the mail, as well as a bit of time you can dedicate each day to submitting the information needed. From my perspective as a stay at home mom, though, this is very easy to do during the little one’s nap time!

Would I suggest that you quit your day job, if you currently have one, in order to work for U.S. Monitor? Um, no. I don’t think you are going to make a living from this type of work. But it is the perfect job for anyone who wants or needs to supplement the income they already have. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for an opening in my area, as I’m currently trying to aggressively attack my college and graduate school loans, and any extra money I earn online is going towards that endeavor.

PLEASE let me know if you decide to try this out, and I want to hear all the details if you get hired!!!

Disclosure: By listing me as a referral we are helping each other make a little bit of money. Having a referral does not in any way reduce the amount of your potential earnings. Win-win!